KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 — With 2025 expected to be a big year for live concerts in Malaysia — Perbadanan Stadium Malaysia (PSM) is ready to handle what’s to come.
Its efforts include implementing a revised standard operating procedures (SOP) for concerts taking place at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium (SNBJ), as well as opening the National Hockey Stadium to also serve as a concert venue.
Speaking to Malay Mail, the statutory body’s chief executive officer, Iliyas Jamil said that the new SOP for concerts in SNBJ has already been implemented since earlier this year to further preserve the condition of the stadium’s pitch.
In April last year, the stadium SNBJ in April replaced its cow grass pitch with a new natural grass pitch using Zeon Zoysia, donated by his Royal Highness Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, the Regent of Johor.
The new pitch however failed to live up to expectations after a few concerts held, along with the 2023 Malaysia Cup final and several other national team fixtures at the stadium, leading to a short moratorium issued by the Youth and Sports Ministry banning any installation of stage structures for concerts on the pitch.
New SOP for concerts at Bukit Jalil National Stadium
According to Iliyas, who was appointed CEO back in June, the moratorium has now become part of the new SOP where concert stages and structures are only allowed to be placed on the track field instead of the pitch.
“After a few concerts previously, we’ve developed a new SOP which, if adhered to, won’t have any effect on the pitch.
“If you look at the pitch condition right now, concerts have nothing to do with it, this is more about the design of the stadium and weather conditions.
“It's a common misconception, people think concerts are ruining the field, maybe it did previously, but since the implementation of this new SOP, that was hardly the case anymore,” Iliyas said.
The new SOP also prevents the removal of the grass pitch as well as not covering it for more than 24 hours.
As a result, the current SNBJ pitch looks better these days although there are still some rough areas around the edges that look dried up.
On pitch conditions, Iliyas said that the main issue in managing the new grass pitch lies with the SNBJ structure itself, as the stadium pitch was built two floors below ground level.
This makes it hard for the pitch to receive proper ventilation and sunlight.
Although Iliyas and his team are working on a solution, this does not mean that the venue is off-limits for concerts as they are still welcoming shows with a few dates already locked by organisers for the first quarter of next year.
He however said that for SNBJ, they are only accepting big acts that could attract over 20,000 crowds and above.
“Because this national stadium is huge, if you can’t secure 20,000 to 40,000 people, if you’re not confident, then it's better to not have it at SNBJ.
“That’s one of the reasons we are opening up the National Hockey Stadium for concerts as well. If the expected crowd is around 10,000 to 20,000, we would suggest (to organisers) to have their show at the hockey stadium.
“For SNBJ, there are around two to three confirmed shows for next year and the shows that we’ve accepted are the ones that we’re confident in getting above 20,000 crowds,” he said.
Optimising use
The full capacity for SNBJ is capped at 85,500 while the hockey stadium can fit 20,000 crowds while Axiata Arena (which is also managed by PSM) can fit up to 16,000 pax in the indoor venue.
Axiata Arena is almost fully booked for next year making it PSM’s most sought-after venue, while demands is growing for the National Hockey Stadium, with two concerts taking place there since opening its doors to live events this year.
“No, we are not replacing SNBJ with the hockey stadium and it wasn’t our intention to divert concerts to the hockey stadium as well.
“Our main reason was to fully optimise the hockey stadium’s usage and we could see some organisers who previously inquired on SNBJ pivoting to the hockey stadium.
“Another thing about the hockey stadium is that it uses artificial turf and it's easier for us to manage and we are planning to further upgrade the hockey stadium’s infrastructure to better accommodate live events in the future,” said Iliyas.
As 2025 is looking to be a big year for live events, Iliyas is hoping to secure 20 events for the National Hockey Stadium, 50 events for Axiata Arena and 10 big events for SNBJ next year.
Among big acts that are confirmed to be performing at the National Hockey Stadium next year are Maroon 5 and Green Day.
All about timing
The decision to open up the National Hockey Stadium for live concerts has been warmly welcomed by local concert organisers.
For Hello Universe’s founder, Adam Ashraf, the decision couldn’t come at a more perfect time as there are no concert venues around KL that can accommodate 20,000.
“It really is a good thing for me because we don’t have a venue that could accommodate between 10,000 to 20,000 pax.
“This is excluding the Merdeka Stadium which has not hosted concerts for a while now since their renovation.
“However, if the National Hockey Stadium were to replace SNBJ, I don’t think it's possible, because we need big venues. What if big artists like Oasis or Radiohead or Taylor Swift decided to tour Malaysia? Where would we host them then?” Adam said.
He added that it is pertinent for concert organisers to know the artists that they’re bringing in and their potential as it would be a shame if big artists were brought in to perform at small to medium scale venues.
“You have to understand that these international artists are not cheap, they’re very expensive.
“And when you have a potentially big artist and you give them a small venue, of course the ticket price for that show will be more expensive than usual.
“Plus, if that artist is capable of attracting around 30,000 to 40,000 people including those from outside of Malaysia, why would you limit it to just 18,000 to 20,000?” he said.
Fr local concert organiser Rohit Rampal, the head of Hitman Solutions, while having a list of sold out concerts under their belt such as for local rock queen Ella’s two-day concert at Axiata Arena last year — he is still waiting for the perfect moment to hold a concert in SNBJ.
“It will depend on the artists and the capacity that they can pull and we would love to do the right act and the right show there.
“We get less opportunities of artists at that stature who perform in Asia which can cater or fill up the entire SNBJ,” he said.
He added that he is not worried about the SNBJ’s SOP as the venue team would always be available to guide them through the process.
One of the biggest challenges however, as he pointed out for SNBJ is booking dates as most peak dates are usually booked way in advance.
